Development director jobs

Sight Scotland is Scotland’s leading charity providing specialist care, education and research for people with vision impairment. The charity has been in existence for over 230 years, and offer a variety of services in the community as well as education, transcription into alternative formats and residential care for adults and children. Their vision is of an inclusive Scotland where people of all visual abilities have the opportunity to thrive. To achieve their mission they are looking for a Fundraising Manager focused on trusts and grants who will cultivate a pipeline of opportunities and ensure an excellent funder experience, to provide Sight Scotland with sustainable income.

The Fundraising Manager – Trusts is responsible for developing trust income. There is a robust pipeline in place, and huge scope to look beyond the pipeline and work with the service delivery teams to identify new funding opportunities. This role will focus on larger funding bids, and exploring the potential for funding for Sight Scotland Veterans. The role supports the organisation’s purpose to make a significant impact on the lives of people living with visual impairment in Scotland by maximising fundraising income to deliver brilliant services and create a positive impact on our ability to deliver for the long term. 

This specialist manager role would suit someone who is already operating at a senior trust fundraiser level, or someone who can demonstrate experience of developing a trust and grants pipeline, creating compelling applications and directly delivering income success.This role will line manage a Trusts Fundraiser (a brand-new post to Sight Scotland), so this could be the ideal opportunity for someone looking to take on people management for the first time.

Whats on offer

• Hybrid, working from Edinburgh office for 1-2 days a week

• 37 days leave pro-rata (inclusive of bank holidays) 

• Contributory pension scheme – up to 12% employer contribution 

• Enhanced policies

Application notes 

Please download the Candidate Info Pack provided for further information about the role, timelines and next steps.

To progress your application, please contact THINK Recruitment to organise an informal screening call. Please note, we cannot shortlist candidates who have not had a screening call so please allow enough time to have a call before the closing date.

Closing date for applications: Midnight Monday 8th June 

Interviews are expected to be held on Wednesday 17th June 

A rare chance to build something from zero — and see your work move millions of pounds to the world's most effective charities.
 

The opportunity

In recent years, some of the biggest problems in the world have gotten worse.

• The decades-long decline in extreme poverty has slowed.
• Factory farming continues to grow, with 13 billion farmed animals killed annually in the U.S. alone.
• The rapid deployment of increasingly powerful AI systems raises questions about safety and alignment that remain largely unresolved.

What gives us hope is that research-backed, scalable, but grossly underfunded ways to make progress on these problems exist.

More than 11,000 people have pledged at least 10% of their income to the world's most effective charities through Giving What We Can's 10% Pledge. Our global community gives over £63 million every year, funding malaria prevention, poverty reduction, animal welfare, AI safety research, and more.

GWWC has over 5,000 UK donors. £12.5M came from the top 300 alone in 2025. Despite this, there has been virtually no proactive relationship management. We believe there's huge potential to increase this figure with dedicated, high-quality donor stewardship.

London is GWWC's largest concentration of community members: over 2,600 CRM contacts and over 500 active pledgers. It's the natural centre of gravity for events and in-person engagement, with a rich ecosystem of high-net-worth individuals aligned with effective giving.
 

What you'll do

Build deep, lasting relationships with donors and pledgers. You'll proactively manage a portfolio of GWWC's highest-value community members through 1:1 meetings, calls, and thoughtful follow-up. Expect 8 to 10 meaningful conversations per week: coffees, dinners, calls.

Guide donors toward the highest-impact giving. Think of it as philanthropic advising. You're helping people think through where their giving goes furthest, directing generosity toward GWWC-recommended, evidence-backed charities. You'll also inspire people to give more, helping them see why giving more significantly and effectively can transform the impact they have with their donations.

Run high-quality donor events. Intimate dinners, networking evenings, and community gatherings. You'll have an events budget and the freedom to experiment with formats that build connection.

Re-engage lapsed and non-reporting donors. When someone takes a pledge with GWWC, they commit to giving 10% of their income to effective charities. Some donors give through our platform (where we can track it), while others give directly to charities and report it back to us. Over time, many stop doing either: our data shows recording rates drop from 60% in year one to just 22% by year five without any proactive engagement. These aren't necessarily people who've stopped caring; many have simply drifted without anyone checking in. A single outreach test to 369 lapsed donors recovered $2.3M in reported donations. You'll do this systematically, bringing recording rates to around 70% for the group of people you're engaging with.

Inspire warm leads to take a giving pledge. Follow up with people who've attended events, expressed interest, or sit in our CRM but haven't yet committed. We expect approximately 80 new pledges per year from this work.

Build the strategy. You'll build the strategy in partnership with your counterpart in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is a joint endeavour: together you'll develop the model for how GWWC does donor engagement, then adapt it for each geography to replicate globally.
 

What we're looking for

A social chameleon with high EQ. You can read a room and calibrate, holding your own at a black-tie dinner or a casual coffee with equal ease. Different donors need different things; you instinctively know which register to use.

Energised by getting out there. You're the kind of person who'd rather have ten meetings in a week than five. You want to be out in the world, meeting people, opening doors, and building relationships. Some weeks half your outreach will go unanswered, and that doesn't slow you down.

Highly organised and strategic. You're able to use a CRM to maximise the number and quality of interactions you have, thinking strategically about how to invest the most time on the highest-potential opportunities, whether that's inspiring new donors or stewarding existing ones to give more.

Super agentic. Give you KPI targets and a CRM and you'll build the strategy from there. You're the kind of person who doesn't need to be told what to do next, you just see what needs doing and get on with it.

You really care deeply about these issues. You find the core questions of effective giving compelling. You can talk about why cost-effectiveness matters without sounding robotic, and you come across as authentic because you actually care about these issues.

5+ years of relevant experience. In fundraising, philanthropy, donor stewardship, major gifts, high-touch relationship management, or senior sales and partnerships. We care about what you can do, not credentials, but this is a senior role that requires demonstrated experience.
 

Nice to haves

We definitely don't expect any candidate to have all of these.

• Experience or familiarity with global catastrophic risks, global health and wellbeing, or animal welfare as cause areas
• Experience in the effective altruism or effective giving ecosystem
• Experience running or hosting donor events
• Experience with HubSpot specifically (CRM proficiency is essential, but HubSpot experience is a bonus)
• Understanding of UK tax-efficient giving (Gift Aid, share donations via ShareGift, payroll giving)
• Being a GWWC pledger yourself
• People management aptitude (you may grow a small team over time)
   

Compensation and benefits

• £77,000 – £89,000 depending on experience You can see how we calculate pay in our public salary calculator. 
• Contract: One-year fixed-term contract with a three-month probation period. We're open to exploring making it permanent if the first year is successful.

Benefits include:

• Fully remote work (with regular in-person donor meetings and events as part of the role)
• 25 days paid leave + public holidays
• 10% employer pension contribution and private health insurance
• £4,000 annual professional development budget
• £4,000 annual mental health support budget
• The knowledge that your work moves millions of pounds to the world's most effective charities
   

About us

Giving What We Can is working towards a world without preventable suffering or existential risk, where everyone is able to flourish. We do this by making giving effectively and significantly a norm among those who can afford it.

Founded in 2009, we are best known for the 10% Pledge, where over 11,000 people have committed to donating at least 10% of their lifetime income to highly effective charities. Our larger community of ~20,000 pledgers and donors currently gives ~£63M annually, of which GWWC processes and grants £24M+ yearly through our own donation platform.

We're a lean, remote, performance-focused team. Our impact evaluation shows a 7x multiplier: every $1 spent on our operations generates $7 in donations to highly effective charities. We're committed to a high level of transparency. And we're growing fast, on track for more than 40% year-over-year growth on donations in 2026.

You'll report to: James Rayton, Director of Community & Partnerships
 

How to apply

You can apply by filling out the form linked in this job ad. We review applications on a rolling basis and will move quickly when we find the right person. Our process typically includes: application review → screening call → paid work test → interviews with James (line manager) and cross-functional team members → paid work trial → reference checks and interview with the CEO. We provide compensation for all work tests and trials.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Giving What We Can is committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourages applications from people of all backgrounds.

This role presents opportunity to work innovatively & responsively, creating new, unique, & informative LGBTQ+ affirmative resources, providing crisis support, prevention & wellbeing initiatives; along with having a developmental role in upskilling & supervising sessional staff, trainees, interns & volunteers. 

This is an exciting job opportunity to join a dynamic & committed team, in a key frontline role working directly within our Heads-Out mental health service, which provides individualised mental health plans, crisis safety plans and support, mental wellbeing workshops, varied mental health support groups including for those seeking asylum, a trans & non-binary group; LGBTQ+ mental health group, and LGBTQ+ social connections & activities group. 

Opportunities will include delivery of specialised interventions, taking direct referrals and helping to support & stabilise those at heightened risk and/ or living through mental health crisis, plus psychoeducation workshops and group programmes will further enable you to engage, empower & support participants to build confidence, develop skills, strategies & achieve goals to improve, maintain & best manage mental health, increase mental wellbeing, and reduce and/ or prevent future crisis.

elop is a well established thriving and award-wining London based community-led LGBTQ+ mental health & wellbeing charity offering a range of high-quality and professional mental health, counselling and wellbeingsupport services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBTQ+) communities. 

There will be one regular evening/ week and occasional other evenings and weekend working required.

NB: There will initially be both in-person office-based working with some remote home-based working required whilst we’re awaiting completion of building works and relocation to new premises

Interviews will take place Friday 26 June 2026 between 9.30am – 15.00 pm

Help shape the future of volunteering at Samaritans.

At Samaritans, volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. As the needs of communities evolve, we need to rethink how people connect, contribute and make a difference. We’re looking for a Volunteering Innovation Advisor to help us explore, test and embed new approaches to volunteering for the years ahead.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is curious about emerging trends and motivated to find ways to reach people who do not currently volunteer with Samaritans. You’ll help develop new and more flexible models of volunteering—looking beyond our existing approaches to remove barriers, engage different audiences, and create opportunities that are both meaningful and sustainable.

This role is focused on developing new ways of attracting volunteers, with an emphasis on reaching new audiences and exploring different approaches.

Contract

• £30,000–£33,000 per annum plus benefits
• Full time (35 hours per week)
• Permanent
• Hybrid working with travel to Ewell office
• In-person working: Meeting in person and working collaboratively are things we value. We ask you to work in person around 2 days or more per month.
• We are passionate about flexible working—talk to us about your preferences

What You’ll Do

In this role, you’ll bring ideas to life by exploring how volunteering needs to evolve. You’ll research emerging trends and changing expectations to help shape new roles, opportunities and approaches to volunteering—particularly focused on attracting and engaging new volunteers to Samaritans.

You’ll use insight to design and test new ways of reaching different audiences, removing barriers to involvement, and creating more flexible and inclusive opportunities. This isn’t about refining what already exists—it’s about developing and trying new approaches that will help us grow and diversify our volunteer community.

You’ll help answer questions like:
• How can Samaritans offer more flexible and inclusive opportunities?
• What motivates volunteers today, and how is that changing?
• How do we ensure our volunteering reflects the diversity of the communities we support?

From gathering and interpreting insight to shaping ideas, planning projects and working with colleagues and volunteers, your role will be to turn thinking into action—helping to build a more inclusive, future-focused approach to volunteering across the organisation.

What You’ll Bring

• Curiosity and openness to innovation, with experience of exploring new ways of working
• Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of people, including staff and volunteers
• Ability to use research and insight to inform decisions and shape new approaches
• Experience of contributing to change, improvement or innovation projects
• Experience in a volunteering-focused organisation, with an understanding of volunteer engagement, including how to reach and involve different audiences

Full Job Description and Person Specification below

​

Why Samaritans?

At Samaritans, you’ll be part of a people-first organisation deeply committed to inclusion, compassion and learning. You’ll contribute to a team where your voice matters, your expertise makes a difference, and your work helps save lives.

We welcome applications from individuals with lived experience and encourage those from underrepresented communities to apply. We are committed to creating an environment where all our people feel seen, heard and supported.

You’ll join a values-led organisation with a powerful mission and a collaborative culture. We offer flexible hybrid working, excellent benefits, and the chance to make a tangible difference in suicide prevention across the UK and Ireland.

For further information about Samaritans, including our charity structure, values, employee benefits, and application process, please read our recruitment brochure available below. You can also visit our careers website to access this.

We recognise the enormous benefits and the social justice imperatives of ensuring diversity at every level of our organisation. Samaritans is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are. To ensure Samaritans is representative of those we support and who support us, we particularly welcome applications from disabled, racialised minority and LGBTQ+ candidates, as these people are under-represented at Samaritans. 

​

Apply now

You will be asked to complete short application questions and submit your CV. Please note the application questions have a 300word limit for each answer.

At Samaritans, human connection is at the heart of everything we do. 

We do not use AI at any stage during the selection process. Your application will always be carefully reviewed by the recruiting manager or a member of the Talent Attraction Team. 

We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to generate your application or interview answers. We want to hear your own ideas, insights, and writing style so your unique strengths can shine through. We recognise that some candidates may use assistive technology or tools to help with accessibility, structure or grammar. 

​Applications close: midnight on Sunday 7th June

In person interviews: w/c 15th June (KT17 2AF)

We are recruiting a Play and Events Coordinator to join our team. This role will be responsible for coordinating our commissioned Theatre in Education school tours in Scotland, London and Northern Ireland, as well as coordinating other DSMF fundraising, networking and information-sharing events.  

Suitable candidates will:

• be passionate about supporting young people to make safer choices about drugs and alcohol,
• have experience of project and event coordination, with excellent organisation skills
• be a skilled and effective communicator, both in writing and orally, with a range of people and agencies
• be proactive, self-motivated and confident to take initiative
• enjoy working as part of a small and busy team

The Job description, person specification and application form are available below.  Please click 'how to apply' to view the application form. 

Please share with anybody you think might be interested in joining our brilliant team!

Interviews are likely to be held on Tuesday 30th June.